Midnight
by aurghhh
Summary: Emily, Paige, and the other liars use their skills as ninja warriors to battle the faceless minions of the mysterious figure known only as 'A'. [AU, obvs]
1. Chapter 1

_Emily and Hanna go in pursuit after they find Paige and Caleb have infiltrated A's secret lair._

 **A/N:** I'm working on the next chapter of "Friday Night, Saturday Morning", but it's going to be a while, so I'm digging through the vaults again and found this, possibly the most ridiculous story I've written. I wrote it ages ago and never finished it, but I've always had vague intentions of writing some more.

Warning for some violence.

* * *

Emily was having a quiet night at home when the call came from Hanna.

"Em, they've done it," Hanna was saying, frantically. "They've found it and they've gone in."

"What are you talking about?" asked Emily.

"It's all here," Hanna replied. "The maps, the plans, they have everything."

"Hanna, slow down," said Emily. "What maps? What plans?"

"I'm over at Caleb's," Hanna explained. "I wanted to drop in and surprise him, but he's not here. On his kitchen table there's a map of Rosewood with A's lair marked on it, and there's floor plans and everything. And Caleb's katana is missing. Paige isn't with you, is she?"

"No," replied Emily.

"They've gone in Em," said Hanna. "They've gone in."

"Just a moment," Emily said. She put Hanna on hold and called Paige. No answer. She switched the call back to Hanna.

"I'll be there in four minutes."

* * *

Exactly four minutes later Emily's motorbike screeched to a halt in front of Caleb's house, and Hanna jumped on the back.

"Head towards the lake," Hanna shouted as Emily set off. "The entrance is a trap door in the old cabin behind the airstrip."

The two of them were in their ninja uniforms, midnight blue with only their eyes showing. Both had their katanas strapped to their backs.

* * *

Emily cut the engine and the lights as they approached the cabin, gliding along the path silently. Her hopes of gaining the element of surprise were short lived, however, as within seconds two throwing stars came out of the darkness at them.

Hanna leapt off the back of the bike and span through the air, landing some distance from the path, katana drawn. Emily ducked under the oncoming missiles and slid the bike into the dirt.

A volley of darts flew at Emily. From her prone position she executed a reverse backflip and the darts passed above her. As she landed she threw two bo-shuriken in the direction of the darts. She heard a dull thud as each hit their target.

"Urgh…" came a voice, then the sound of a body collapsing.

Hanna meanwhile was set upon by four attackers, coming at her from all directions. She charged at one to allow herself the first attack and effortlessly dodged his parry to impale him with her sword. He fell awkwardly, however, pulling her weapon from her grasp.

As his comrades pressed in on her she fended off their blows with her scabbard. She knew this would not last long, though. She let loose a series of kicks to give herself some time, then drew a pair of kusarigama. She swung the chains of her new weapons around her, landing a number of heavy blows on her assailants. Now she could move in for the kill.

Emily was in more open ground, and her katana swung freely. Fountains of blood sprayed over her as her opponents went from five, to four, to three, to two…

Her final enemy stood facing her and snarled. He charged, sword raised, but has he swung to strike her down she vaulted over him, spun in midair and decapitated him on her way down.

"Come on Hanna," Emily called. "We don't have much time."

Hanna grabbed her katana and headed off after Emily.

* * *

They stopped at the doorway.

They were inside the cabin now, peering into the back room. It was a simple room, with just an old wooden desk, a run down chair, an old wardrobe, and a life-size statue of a lion. The trap door was clearly visible in the centre of the floor, but the both knew better than to proceed.

Emily threw one of her hira-shuriken at the trap door. As soon as it landed a burst of flame came out of the mouth of the lion, which would have incinerated anyone standing there.

They paused for a moment.

Two darts shot out of a hole in the wardrobe, directly towards them. Hanna and Emily both dropped to the ground, but only just in time to avoid the darts. As they did they heard a whirring noise beneath them and rolled away as a circular blade came out of the floor where they had just lain.

Instinctively they both sprang up and leapt backwards. Sure enough a shower of liquid rained down in front of them. As it hit the floor the wood hissed and a thick gas rose up. It was time to retreat.

They were outside the cabin again before they stopped to talk.

"There must be a way," said Emily.

"Yeah," replied Hanna. "A way to become tomorrow's roast meat."

"This is the only entrance according to the map," insisted Emily.

"Well they must have a hell of a recruiting problem," countered Hanna.

"We need to think," Emily said, looking back towards the cabin. "There has to be a way in, and it has to be fairly simple or it wouldn't be practical for them to use."

As she was speaking Hanna tossed a grenade through the window.

"HANNAAAA!" screamed Emily as they both ran from the cabin and dived into bushes.

The cabin exploded just before they landed, sending them flying an extra few feet to a hard landing. Moments later pieces of charred wood were falling on them.

As they lay prone with half the cabin falling on top of them, Emily gave Hanna a look harsher than any grenade, but Hanna just smiled.

"Blame Spencer," she said. "She's the one who suggested I use hand grenades."

"She didn't suggest…" Emily began, but trailed off once she saw the look of pride on Hanna's face. "Let's just go in."

* * *

Paige and Caleb peered over the rock shelf. On the other side of the chasm were two guards, standing very casually at attention.

"So they know about this entrance," Caleb whispered.

"But they obviously don't expect anyone to use it ," Paige replied, in similarly hushed tones, "or they would have more guards."

"Well, it's not on any of the maps," Caleb added. "We're probably the only two people in Rosewood who know about this. Any one else would try to go in via the cabin…"

"And wouldn't last five minutes," concluded Paige.

They paused for a moment, surveying the cave.

"Do you think you can take them out?" asked Caleb.

"No problem," answered Paige.

Paige grabbed her short bow and two arrows. She drew the string back and sent the arrows speeding towards their targets. Both guards were hit in the chest. They instinctively grabbed the protruding part of the arrow, let out a low moan and fell forward, plummeting down the chasm. After some time a splash could be heard, then another.

"OK," said Paige, "now for the hard part…"

She took out another arrow, one with a grappling hook on the front and a thin rope attached to the tail. She loaded the arrow and drew the bow. She scanned the ledge where the guard had been standing and soon spotted a suitable target. There was a crevice in the rock which would be perfect.

The arrow flew across the chasm, rope trailing behind, and lodged in the crevice. Paige tugged on the rope twice, then again a third time, to make sure it had caught, and it held fast. They quickly anchored the rope on their side. They now had a way across the chasm and, more importantly, a way in to A's lair.

Paige clipped her belt on to the rope as a harness, then proceeded to crawl across. Within a minute she was on the other side, with her feet planted firmly on the ground.

Caleb followed suit. When he was half way across, however, there was a loud noise above them. An explosion.

"Hanna!" they both cried under their breath.

Caleb tried to move faster but the earth around them shook and chunks of rock fell down, one snapping the rope just near the ledge. Caleb held on to the rope as he swung down crashing in to the rock wall. He cried in pain as he hit the rock, then again as he bounced and swung back into it, but he was able to keep his grip on the rope.

He was now hanging by one hand, twenty feet beneath the spot where they were minutes before. The ledge where Paige stood was still on the far side of the chasm to him.

There was a commotion behind Paige. She turned to see a group of at least twenty A minions in the passage, running towards her.

"I'll take care of these," she called to Caleb. "You do what you can."

"OK," he called back.

* * *

Emily and Hanna peered down the shaft.

"Well, you opened the door but destroyed the ladder," Emily observed.

"Hey, all the traps are gone," Hanna responded.

"And instead we have a fifty foot drop," Emily countered.

"Oh come on, Em, we do this sort of thing every day," Hanna replied.

"True," Emily agreed. "Just wait a minute. They're probably waiting down there for us."

"Which is why I have this," said Hanna, holding up another grenade.

"Don't…"

Hanna dropped the grenade down the shaft.

* * *

Paige grabbed her bow and quickly fired off a volley of six arrows which took down the front three ranks of her opponents. Now they were closing in on her, though. She noted the width of the passage. It was two narrow for her katana, so she drew two short swords and stood ready to face her enemies. Only two of her opponents could attack at a time, but it would still be a hard battle.

As they reached her the first two attacked. One swung his sword down on her, which she blocked above her head with one sword. The other stabbed at her, which she parried so that it passed harmlessly by. She then kicked the first attacker away, used her now free sword to stab the second, then swung back to slash the first.

Caleb meanwhile was pulling himself up the rope. He now had two hands to use, and his legs were wrapped around the rope, so he was making good progress. He could see Paige fighting A's minions, and hear the clash of steel on steel. She was holding her own but wouldn't be able to last forever.

When he was just a body length from safety there was another explosion. Closer this time. The walls shook violently. Rocks were falling down on him. He made a final surge to try to reach the top but was knocked back by the stones raining down the rock face. He tried to cling on to the rope but could feel his grip slipping.

Paige had both swords raised above her head, holding off her opponents attacks. She knew what the explosion meant. With all of her energy she threw her attackers back and turned to see Caleb. He had just let go of the rope and was falling. Silently. She knew he was already unconscious. In an instant he disappeared into the darkness of the chasm.

As she looked on helplessly she felt a sharp blow on the back of her head. The world around her turned black.

 _To be continued…_


	2. Chapter 2

_Emily and Hanna continue their search for Paige and Caleb in A's secret lair._

 **A/N:** Thank you all for your kind words. I still think this is a very silly story, but let's keep going.

* * *

Her ropes secured, Hanna began to descend the shaft. Once Hanna was clear, Emily followed. Slowly they lowered themselves into the darkness.

They were barely fifty feet down when Hanna stopped.

"Em, wait," she whispered.

Hanna tapped lightly on the wall in front of her. There was a slight ringing noise as she did.

"Do you hear that?" Hanna asked.

"It's hollow," replied Emily.

"Yep," said Hanna. "Which means…"

Her legs wrapped around the rope to keep her steady, Hanna took out her torch and started examining the wall.

"I can't see…" she said, mostly to herself.

She kept tapping to see where the wall was solid. She picked at any cracks in the rock, and tried to feel for gaps.

"Ah!" she said, quietly but triumphantly.

She took out a pick and wedged it into a small hole in the wall. After a few moments maneuvering a section of the wall swung inward.

"What is it?" asked Emily.

"There's a tunnel," Hanna replied.

"Where does it go?" Emily asked.

"Forward," Hanna replied.

"Hanna!" Emily snapped, somewhat exasperated.

"Wherever it goes it has to be better than the welcoming committee we're going to get down there," Hanna pointed out.

Emily knew that Hanna was, annoyingly, right.

"You're right," she conceded. "If they've gone to the trouble of hiding it then they obviously don't want us to use it. Let's go."

Hanna crawled through the narrow space into the passage beyond. Emily followed.

The tunnel was barely waist height, so they had to proceed on their hands and knees. The sides were rough-hewn rock, and there were occasional wooden beams seemingly supporting the ceiling.

Hanna shone her torch ahead. The winding path meant she could see little but stone. They moved on.

* * *

"Em, I can see something!" Hanna exclaimed after they had traveled some distance.

"Keep your voice down," Emily reminded her.

"Sorry," Hanna said, more quietly. "But look."

She pointed her torch at the way ahead, and there was an opening. They couldn't see much, but the narrow tunnel they were now crawling along clearly opened up into a larger space of some sort.

As they got closer they could see more. It was a room of some sort. The walls were still stone, but were flat. The tunnel seemed to emerge some distance off the floor.

They paused for a moment before going in. Hanna picked up a rock and threw it in. It bounced harmlessly on the floor. Nothing more happened.

"No traps make me more nervous than traps now," Emily said.

"I know," Hanna agreed. "Do they want us to go in because that's how they collect dinner?"

"I was just thinking there might be something we missed," Emily replied. "But now…"

They peered in, the circle of light from each of their torches showing them the room, one piece at a time. It was stone, roughly square, with what seemed to be a doorway on the wall to their right. The walls were covered in strange carved figures which they could not make out from this distance.

"It's different," Emily declared.

"Well yeah, we don't have one of these at home," Hanna replied sarcastically.

"No I mean it's different to the passage we're in now," Emily said. "Someone has tunneled though to this. It's older than the rest of this place."

They paused for a moment, trying to understand what they were seeing.

"Well, we've got two choices," said Hanna. "We go in or we go back. But we've got to find the others before they get themselves in trouble."

"We go in," said Emily.

"OK…"

Hanna started to crawl out the end of the tunnel into the room beyond. As she did, she sensed a movement in the rock below her. Instinctively she launched herself through the gap. As she did she heard a scraping noise and felt something hit her foot.

She broke her fall with a forward roll on the floor.

Her left foot was cold now. And wet.

Her torch had landed in front of her, pointing towards the opposite wall. She picked it up and looked back. A metal plate was now completely blocking the end of the tunnel. It had fallen like a guillotine as she went through.

Emily was still on the other side.

She took a moment to compose herself. She had landed on the floor in the center of the room. She was OK.

But what was wrong with her foot?

She looked down. The end of her shoe was missing, and blood was running out onto the floor.

She looked closer, the light from her torch now unsteady, moving back and forth with the shaking of her hand. One toe was missing, and part of another.

She noticed she was breathing faster now, panting. Her body was shaking. She just stared at the wound, marveling at the amount of blood that could come from just two toes.

* * *

Emily's reflexes saved her.

The moment Hanna disappeared behind a flash of steel, Emily had braced herself against the wall. The floor almost seemed to disappear after she had acted, though surely she must have seen it vanish first.

Now she was propped up above… She looked down. It wasn't a pit, but rather seemed to be a chute of some sort, sloping downwards on an angle seemingly designed to deliver, rather than kill, it's victim.

She moved herself sideways until she reached a small patch of solid ground just before the plate which was now separating her from Hanna.

She knocked quickly.

"Hanna!" she said, pressing herself against it to try to hear what was happening on the other side.

"It's OK, Em," came the muffled call from the other side.

"Are you injured?" Emily asked.

"I'm fins," Hanna assured her. "I just seem to have lost a couple of toes."

Toes? Emily looked her around with her torch. There weren't any… urgh, she had been sitting on them.

"You need to stop the bleeding," Emily called back to Hanna.

"I know," Hanna replied, laughing a little. "Have done. Ah Em, you should see this."

"Hanna," Emily said, "I'll get this open."

"Hey Em," Hanna responded, "could you keep those toes? I don't want to leave them here."

"Of course," Emily said, wrapping them up in a piece of cloth and putting them in a pocket in her belt. "Now I have to get you out."

"Don't worry," Hanna said. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Emily replied. "You're in shock."

"No, no, no," Hanna insisted. "You go get the others and I'll just blast my way out in a minute."

Emily ignored this and inspected the metal plate. It seemed to have no mechanism around it which might be used to open it again, but that was to be expected. More of a problem was that there was absolutely no space between it and the rock. It fitted perfectly, and there was no way of getting leverage to open it.

She tried again to find a gap…

The floor beneath her dropped. She fell down into the chute and kept falling. Even as she slid down she cursed herself for losing focus.

Emily was picking up speed now and being thrown from side to side as the chute twisted and turned.

She managed to shine her torch ahead of her, as just as she did there was a gleam as something up reflected the light back to her. She grabbed her katana and wedged it across the chute to break her fall.

She was still now. Suddenly still.

She looked ahead. A series of blades were raised up out of the chute, just a few feet ahead of her.

She considered her options. It would be difficult to get back up. Hanna was trapped and injured, but if her training had kicked in enough for her to cover the wound she should be OK for now.

Emily put the torch in her mouth then, with her spare hand, got Hanna's toes out and inspected them. It was a clean cut.

The other option was to keep going down. She should be able to get over the blades, but had no idea what was at the bottom.

She listened. She listened past the silence of the rock, down, down towards wherever this slide would lead her. And she heard them. Voices. There were people down there. She would go on.

* * *

Hanna was thinking more clearly now. She had bound her wound and was gently testing her foot. It hurt, but it could take her weight. Now she could inspect the room around her.

The walls were covered in elaborate bas-reliefs. At first her eye was drawn to the bizarre creatures that figured so prominently. Giants, dragons, figures which seemed to be half human and half lion.

But then she noticed something else. All of these creatures were being fought by an army of samurai. And the samurai were always victorious.

* * *

As Emily reached the bottom of the chute the ground beneath her opened up again. This time she was ready and braced herself against the walls.

She found herself looking down into a half-lit corridor. She was about twelve feet off the floor, looking down through a hole in the ceiling.

She heard voices coming towards her.

A group of black hooded figures walked directly beneath her. A's minions.

Once they had safely gone, she dropped down.

She moved into the shadows and looked around.

Everything around her was much simpler and plainer than the room above, the one which had trapped Hanna. This was A's lair.

She took out her phone. No signal, of course, but she could view the map of the lair which Hanna had sent her. After her bumpy ride down, she could only guess at where she was, but she seemed to be in the north-east sector.

Good. This was very good. She was near the prison cells. And that is where she might find Paige and Caleb.

* * *

Hanna studied the door. At least, it appeared to be a door. It was made from the same stone as the walls, and looked like it should open, but had no obvious handles or lock. It was covered in writing in a script she couldn't read. She took out her phone and began photographing it.

* * *

Emily could see the guards. Three of them.

She knew she had to get past them to get into the prison cells. And she knew she had to do it quietly.

She moved as close as she could, until she was standing just outside their door. As she moved in, she considered what weapons she would need. She settled on a kusarigama in one hand, and some hira-shuriken in the other.

Just as she was arming herself the moment came. She heard two of the guards coming towards her.

One guard came through the door, then a second. As the second came out she lashed at him with the kusarigama, so that the chain wrapped around his neck, then pulled back, killing him instantly. In a single movement she then threw two of the hira-shuriken at the guard remaining inside, then two at the final guard.

And with that it was over.

Everything was quiet and still.

She dragged the bodies back inside, quickly spotted the keys, then headed for the prison cells.

* * *

Hanna noticed something else.

There was a pattern on the floor. It was difficult to see, more of an outline carved into the floor. She struggled to make out what it represented.

As she ran her torch over the floor, however, something was happening. She saw that the blood which had spilled when her toes had been cut off had not dried, or merely stained the rock, but was now starting to run into the lines scratched into the floor.

The blood flowed along the narrow channels, marking them red. As it did the pattern changes from obscure marks to a vivid red outline on the dark stone. A picture was starting to emerge.

* * *

For a ruthless warlord, A's prison was pretty empty. But then, that was how A operated. Stealth, manipulation, and conspiracies were A's tools. Overt shows of force were only used when absolutely necessary. So as Emily went down the corridor, she peered through the grill in each door, one empty room after another.

But then she came to one that was different. It was the second last cell on the right hand wall, and as soon as Emily looked in her heart raced. The room was dark but even the vague silhouette of a figure in the corner was enough for Emily to recognize. She knew exactly who it was. It was Paige.

 _To be continued..._


	3. Chapter 3

_Emily and Paige battle to escape A's lair._

 **A/N:** I'm doing a bit of editing here, as the chapter break up in the original wasn't so good. A warning that this chapter gets quite violent.

* * *

Emily unlocked the cell, almost fumbling the keys in her excitement. When she entered Paige went into battle stance, despite being chained to the wall, until she saw who it was.

"Paige," Emily cried in her loudest whisper. "Thank God you're alive."

Emily rushed over and hugged Paige.

"Em," was all Paige said.

They held each other tightly, Emily finally able to banish the nightmare scenarios which had been going through her head. They were together again, but in hostile territory, and there would be no time for tearful reunions. Emily had to keep going.

She unlocked Paige's chains, but something was wrong, Emily could see it. Paige was looking at her, eyes blank, mouth half open.

"Em," Paige said again.

"Where is Caleb?" Emily asked. "Do you know which cell he's in?"

"He's gone Em," Paige replied, her voice soft, but rough.

"Where has he gone?" Emily asked. "Did he break out?"

"He fell," Paige replied.

"What do you mean?" Emily was worried now.

"The chasm," Paige replied, now barely audible. "He fell."

Emily felt sick. She had been sure they would both be here. They might need rescuing, but they would be OK. They were always OK. They had fought so many battles together. Now Paige was just staring at her and Caleb was…

"He fell," Paige repeated. "Into the chasm."

Emily's eyes were welling up. She knew she couldn't afford this. She was still in the enemy's lair.

"Where can we find him?" she asked desperately. "There must be a way."

Paige just shook her head.

Emily fell on her knees and vomited. And again. Then as she stared at the sick-stained floor she remembered who she was. She was Emily Fields, a ninja warrior. There would be time for grieving later, but for now her enemies would see no fear, no weakness, no loss. Only the steel of her sword.

She stood and fixed her gaze on Paige. In that moment Paige brought herself back from the grief which had overcome her.

"We need to get back to the entrance under the cabin," Emily declared. "Hanna is trapped in a hidden room off the entrance shaft."

"I know the way," Paige replied.

* * *

Hanna had watched the pattern emerge beneath her, drawn in her own blood. But now it had stopped. The blood had run out. Her wound had not been enough to fill the floor, but still a picture had started to form.

On the floor in front of her, in glowing red, was the wings and claws of a dragon.

She knew she must get out of this room.

She looked through her backpack. The metal sheet was solid steel. She would need something strong to blast through that. Fortunately she always had something strong.

* * *

"I have to warn you," Paige said as they ran down the corridor, "these ones won't just be the run of the mill minions we've faced so far. And remember, we need to get up on the ledge to get out."

"Understood," said Emily.

They entered the room, and immediately as they did a dozen of A's crack ninja troops jumped down on them from the ledge above.

Paige had her bow at the ready, and shot two while they were still in the air. Emily, with a flash of her katana, cut down another as they landed.

The space was too large to try to funnel their opponents and limit their attacks, so Emily and Paige moved to the center of the room and stood back to back, their swords held forward, as they were encircled by their enemies.

In an instant, the battle was joined.

Emily was set upon by four attackers. She could barely parry all their blows, let alone counter attack, and had to take a defensive position. Time and again she fended off blows from their swords, only to have more strikes come at her. Where she could could she launched kicks at her opponents, but could not gain the initiative.

Paige was facing a similarly dire situation. She was forced to draw a short sword as well as her main weapon. She hated doing this as using her katana one-handed lessened the control and power of her attacks, but she needed the second weapon if she was to overcome so many opponents.

Suddenly one of Paige's attackers somersaulted backwards, drew a throwing star and threw it at her. Paige was still defending herself against her closer attackers' swords. She parried two blows with her katana, then with her short sword swatted the throwing star into the face of one of her enemies.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" came the cry as he fell to the ground.

She could see the figure with the throwing stars draw again, this time aiming at Emily.

"Em! Echo!" Paige shouted.

Emily knew what that call meant. Without hesitation they both leapt high in the air, over the heads of their opponents. As Emily turned in the air she saw the throwing star which had been intended for her hit the arm of one of her attackers, temporarily disabling him.

She landed facing her enemies backs. They had been too slow to turn.

She swung her katana and in an instant cut down one, then another. A spray of blood from the second victim hit her eyes, however, temporarily blinding her. As she struggled to clear her sight a throwing star hit her shoulder.

The pain shot through her, but there was no time to remove it.

Paige wanted to get to Emily, but she still had her own troubles to deal with. She faced one opponent at close quarters, and one at distance peppering her and Emily with throwing stars.

Paige dropped her short sword and once again took a two-handed grip on her katana.

Her attacker lashed out with a series of swings and thrusts. As she defended herself a throwing star hit her leg. in the moment she was distracted by this blow, her closer opponent thrust at her. She barely fended off the attack and the sword cut across her side.

The floor was becoming slippery with blood, her own as well as that of her enemies.

Emily was struggling. She had two opponents closing in on her with their swords. She now had two throwing stars embedded in her, and a number of cuts from sword blades.

She could also see the more distant ninja turn to face her, this time with a handful of throwing knives at the ready.

Emily could see what they were doing now. Paige's single opponent was fighting only to contain her. The other three would concentrate on Emily, two at close quarters and one hurling knives.

She parried two sword blows, then caught the flash of a knife coming towards her. She dropped to the ground, swinging her sword at her opponents' legs as she did so. They both jumped, avoiding her strike.

In a moment she was back on her feet. She saw another knife heading her way. She thrust her blade at one of her enemies, causing them to dodge right, intercepting the incoming knife with the back of their head.

"Urgh," they said, falling forward.

But then another knife flew at her. She ducked and rolled forward, grabbing the knife from the air as she did so. As she landed on the ground she spun around and threw the knife back in the direction it came, hitting her enemy between the eyes.

She had little time to celebrate, however, as she was now on the floor and had lost sight of her final attacker.

Emily saw a flash of metal above her head and blocked the strike coming down on her. She was now lying on her back, holding her katana up as her attacker pushed theirs down. She executed a scissor kick which caught her attacker in the face. As they staggered backwards, she jumped to her feet and ran them through with her sword.

Paige was now one on one, the best odds she had had in the fight, but her opponent was skilled with the katana. Paige launched a series of sweeping attacks, all of which were parried. Her opponent then countered with a low thrust which Paige parried, elbowing them in the face for good measure.

Paige tried to drive home the advantage, but her next attack was blocked, and the next after that.

Paige thrust her sword at her opponent's chest. They dodged and grabbed Paige's right arm. Paige managed to keep hold of her sword with her other hand, but her opponent pulled back against her forearm, cracking her elbow.

The pain flowed though Paige's body. She could hear herself screaming, but she knew she could not give in. She drifted away from the physical sensation, and found stillness inside of herself.

She watched as her opponent threw her to the floor. She saw herself stuck by her enemy's sword, but it was not too bad. Her attacker picked her up, stood behind her and prepared for the final blow. As they did, Paige knew what to do. Seemingly balancing on her katana, Paige picked it up and thrust it backward, impaling her enemy.

Paige felt sadness, but relief.

Emily was saying something, but Paige could not take it in. She just smiled.

Paige watched as Emily pulled a throwing star out of her shoulder, then another out of her arm. She felt bad for not helping.

Now Emily grabbed the throwing star still protruding from Paige's leg and looked up to Paige. Paige nodded. Emily pulled the throwing star out and quickly covered the wound. Paige imagined that it must have hurt.

Emily sheathed her sword and wiped the blood off her own face, then gently wiped the blood of Paige's. She took Paige's katana, which Paige still held, and sheathed it for her. Then, as delicately as she could, Emily took Paige's broken arm, which was now hanging limply, and bound it to her side.

As she did this there was a noise above them. An explosion. The ground around them shook.

"Oh no," said Emily. "Paige we need to get up to Hanna."

Paige knew she had to come back. Despite the pain.

"We need to get on to the ledge," Paige said. She could feel the pain now, but she knew they had to find Hanna.

"Are you going to be OK?" Emily asked.

"I have to be," replied Paige. "We need to go."

Emily braced herself against the wall. With a running start, Paige vaulted over Emily up onto the ledge, then dropped a rope down for Emily to climb up.

* * *

"OK, we're almost there," Emily said.

Emily and Paige were crawling along the passageway towards where Emily had left Hanna.

Emily shone the torch ahead of her. There. The floor was still open where she had fallen down. But there was something else. A smell of smoke. And the plate blocking the end of the tunnel was gone. Or mostly gone.

"You wait here," Emily said.

With that she braced herself against both walls and move over the chute. As she got closer she could see a hole had been blasted in the plate. That's Hanna.

She looked inside. The room was blackened now, though a strange, glowing red pattern covered part of the floor.

"Hey Em," came a weak voice.

Emily stepped into the room, but could not see where the voice was coming from. The she saw Hanna huddling in the corner, a black figure against a black wall.

Emily rushed over to Hanna.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

"I'm OK," Hanna replied. "The explosion just stunned me a little."

"We have to get you out of here," Emily said.

"Where's Caleb?" Hanna asked.

Emily hesitated. She couldn't tell her. Not now. Not like this.

"He found another way out," Emily said. "We're meeting him on the surface."

"That's good," Hanna said. "I wasn't much of a rescue party was I? I should have known he would be OK."

"Come on Hanna," Emily said. "Let's go."

* * *

They were back above ground now. All of them were wounded, but they were able to walk. Emily was supporting Hanna, because of her injured foot. Paige had a broken arm and a grimace on her face which spoke of the pain she was feeling, but she kept going.

"The car's up here," Hanna said. "Is that where Caleb is meeting us?"

"Hanna, we need to get both of you to a hospital," Emily replied.

"We have to wait for Caleb," Hanna insisted. "How is he going to get back?"

"Em," was all Paige said.

"I know, I know," Emily said.

"What?" Hanna asked. "What is it? Where is he?"

"We don't know," Emily admitted.

"What do you mean?" Hanna asked. "Did you leave him in there? We have to go back."

"He's not in there," Emily said, looking straight ahead.

Emily tried to pick up the pace. She wanted to get Hanna in the car before telling her, but Hanna just stopped. Emily tried to drag her, but Hanna sat down on the grass.

"Where is he?" she pleaded. "Where is he?"

Emily and Paige looked at each other.

"We were crossing a chasm," Paige began. "We came under attack."

Hanna's face broke up in anguish. She was quivering, tears streaming from her eyes. She knew.

"He fell," Paige added.

"No," Hanna whispered. "No. He…"

The tears came more harshly now, her body jerking with each sob.

"He can't. He can't."

Paige sat beside Hanna, who collapsed into her, weeping uncontrollably. Emily looked over to where the car was sitting. She knew they would have to wait though. She sat down too, hugging Hanna, wanting to comfort her, but knowing it was of little use.

 _To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

_T _he liars regroup_ after the attack on A's lair._

 **A/N:** I'm really sorry, I have made no progress on "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" (life is a bit busy at home - we're getting ready to move house soon) so I've dug up another chapter out of the vaults for this story.

* * *

As soon as Spencer entered the hospital room she found herself facing Emily and Aria's swords.

"Excellent," said Spencer. "Good to see you are both ready."

They lowered their weapons and let her in. She placed the large box which she was carrying on the bench.

Emily was bandaged but up and about. Hanna and Paige were clearly more injured, however. Hanna's foot was wrapped up solidly where her toes had been cut off, and Paige had her arm in a cast for her broken elbow.

Spencer hugged Emily first.

"I'm so glad you're alright," she said.

She then delicately hugged Paige.

Hanna was looking less receptive, but Spencer hugged her anyway.

"Is you're foot going to be OK?" Spencer asked.

"Fine," replied Hanna tersely.

"You lost two toes," Spencer said.

"I'll just have to be careful buying shoes," said Hanna, clearly in no mood for small talk.

"Did the doctors ask any questions?' Spencer asked Emily.

"It was fine," Emily replied. "Dr Yamamoto took charge before anyone could look too closely. We've got this room to ourselves."

"Great," said Spencer, returning to her box. She pulled out a portable whiteboard and some markers.

"What is this?" asked Hanna.

"We need to do an after-action review," replied Spencer. "We always do."

Hanna rolled her eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked.

"Look, I know your probably upset at the moment but a lot of things went wrong and I think we can really identify some important lessons learned here," Spencer explained.

"We know what we have to do," Hanna said. "We have to go back and find Caleb."

Spencer paused for a moment, deciding on how to word her response.

"Hanna," she began. "We will go back, I agree. We need to recover Caleb…"

"It's not a recovery," Hanna interrupted. "It's a rescue and we have to go now."

"With a fall like that there's very little chance of survival," Spencer protested.

"There's a river at the bottom," Hanna responded. "Paige heard the others hit water."

"Even so, it's a long fall and he was unconscious. If the impact didn't kill him he may well have drowned," Spencer said.

"Urgh!" Hanna grunted, too angry for words.

"Spence," Emily said gently, "If there's a chance, we have to try."

"Maybe…" Spencer began.

"No, definitely," Emily said, firmly.

"OK, but the chance is still small," Spencer said. "We have to prepare ourselves for the most likely outcome."

"No," said Hanna.

"Look, Hanna, if he did die it was in combat," Spencer said. "Isn't that what we all want?"

"Don't try to make this better!" Hanna shouted. "He was not struck down, katana in hand, bathed in the blood of his enemies. He fell. He fell down a stupid cliff because he lost his grip on a stupid rope because I…"

Hanna voice broke up. She was crying now. Sobbing violently.

Aria and Emily grabbed hold of her, trying to comfort her, and stop her from aggravating her injuries.

Spencer watched. She could see the grief on Hanna's face. The heartbreak. And the guilt.

"We will go back," Spencer said. "We will find him. Whatever it takes we will find him."

Spencer turned to Paige.

"Tell us what happened," she said. "We need to know what we're up against."

* * *

When the story concluded, Spencer and Aria just stood there, mouths open and eyes wide.

"OK," began Aria. "Paige, you're saying you and Caleb went in after you were sent maps showing a secret entrance to A's lair, but you don't know who sent them to you."

"Yes, that's correct," confirmed Paige.

"So, what… Someone else is after A? Someone on the inside is helping us?" Spencer asked.

"We don't know," replied Paige. "Caleb and I had the maps, and we saw an opportunity to help Emily and Hanna, so we took it."

Spencer looked at Paige, her expression hard. She tilted her head a little.

"And the rest of you," Paige continued. "Help Emily and Hanna and… all of you. That's what we were doing."

"You could have been killed," Emily interjected. "Those maps could have been a trap."

"That's not important right now," Spencer said.

"Actually I think it's very important," Emily responded. "They could have gotten themselves killed."

"They didn't," Spencer said with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"But…" Emily began.

"Those maps were the real deal," Spencer interrupted, before Emily could go any further. "Someone has given us a way into A's lair."

"Not anymore," Aria reminded them. "They'll know we're coming if we try to use that entrance again."

"And you two," Spencer continued, now addressing Emily and Hanna. "You went in through the fake front entrance which was really a death trap, but found a secret passage."

Emily wasn't listening now. She marched over to Paige's beside.

"Paige, you have to promise me you'll never do that again," she said.

"If I did would you believe me?" Paige asked.

Emily turned away. She stared at the floor, her arms crossed in front of her. Her breathing was slow and deliberate.

Spencer turned to Hanna.

"Tell me more about that room you found. What were the carvings?" she asked.

"Look," Hanna replied. "We can talk about this later. What we need to do now is work out how we're going to find Caleb."

"You're right," said Spencer. "There's two possibilities. Either he is still around the area where he fell, or he has followed the river further along."

"So some of us need to go into the chasm…" Emily began.

"…and we need to find out where that river comes out," concluded Aria.

"Exactly," said Spencer. "You and Emily go to where Caleb fell and rappel down. I'll send Toby to give you cover. I'll find where the river emerges and go in that way."

"I'm coming too," Paige demanded.

"And me," Hanna added.

"No, you're both recovering," Emily argued.

"Em, we just went into A's lair," Hanna pointed out. "Do you really think we're going to be left alone?"

"What if we get in a fight?" Emily asked.

"I'll be fine," Hanna asserted.

"And I can still use my bow with a cast on," Paige said. "I'll just have to switch arms. I could provide cover and Toby could go in with you."

Spencer took two of the whiteboard markers and with a flick of her wrist sent one speeding towards Hanna, another towards Paige. Hanna grabbed the tissue box next to her bed and caught the marker, while Paige swatted hers from the air with the television remote control.

"OK," said Spencer. "Paige will provide cover for Emily, Aria and Toby. Hanna will come with me."

* * *

As they all prepared for their mission, donning their robes and sharpening their weapons, Emily took Paige aside. She needed to talk to her girlfriend.

"You don't have to do this," she told Paige. "We can go in without you."

"Em, I can't leave you," Paige insisted. "Especially not for something like this."

"You're injured," Emily reminded her. "You should be recovering."

"We don't have time," Paige countered.

Emily knew she was right.

"I just... worry about you," Emily explained.

"Same here," Paige replied. "I promised before I wouldn't leave your side, and I'm not going to let you go in there without me."

Emily nodded. She understood. She took Paige's good hand and held it firmly.

"When all this is over," Emily began, "we're going on that road trip together. Just the two of us."

"Just the two of us," Paige agreed.

Emily smiled, and quickly kissed the girl she loved. She would never let go of that dream, the dream they had made together, but there was work to be done before then.

* * *

Emily, Aria, Paige and Toby peered over the rock shelf. On the other side of the chasm were a dozen guards, on the lookout for any activity.

"So they're prepared this time," Emily whispered.

"Why are there no guards on this side though?" Aria asked.

"They want us to come," Toby replied.

The others all looked at him.

"They want us to try again," he said. "They have a token group of guards on show, but they'll have at least a hundred elite ninjas ready if we try to cross."

"Ready to kill us the moment we set foot on the other side," Aria added.

Emily shook her head.

"I doubt it will be that quick," she said.

"This is why I love fighting beside you guys," Paige said. "You're all so positive."

"So what's the plan?" Toby asked.

"You three secure your harnesses and start heading down," Paige said. "I'll keep them occupied."

"I know you're a good shot Paige, but arrows won't stop them for long," Aria replied.

"I've got a few surprises for them. Hanna gave them to me. You, um, might want to make sure you're well secured," Paige suggested.

"Even then…" Emily began, but they all knew what was in store.

Still keeping low for cover, they secured their anchors and fastened their ropes.

Paige prepared her arrows. She was ready now.

The four of them looked at each other and silently nodded. It was time.

Paige slowly lifted herself into position, just above the rick shelf. She drew back her bow.

"Go!" she cried.

* * *

Caleb slowly became aware of his surroundings. He was lying on something cold and hard. There was a sound of rushing water. His feet were wet. They were… they were in the river.

He pulled himself up on to the rock. He looked around but it was dark, completely dark.

He was in pain.

He started to remember. The chasm, the explosions, the rope, the rocks falling down on him.

He was in pain. He had no idea where he was. He couldn't see. He had no torch, no weapons.

But he was alive.

 _To be continued…_


End file.
